ABOUT to dash out for my son's sports day on Wednesday, I fleetingly wondered whether or not to grab my camera.

Like most parents, I have hundreds of snaps detailing every event in my children's lives - but that day I decided not to take my camera.

In retrospect I'm ashamed and a little bit shocked to admit that I didn't take it because I thought it might be inappropriate to take photos at a gathering of young children.

That one decision brought home to me just how much the whole paedophile issue is starting to permeate everyday life.

Maybe it's hardly surprising. When I take the children swimming I'm told: "No photos". When the children's school wants to put pictures of pupils on its website parents are asked to sign consent forms. The school is gated and locked and children are told about "stranger danger" in assembly after two pupils escaped a man who tried to entice them.

I know the facts. The fact is it is still extremely rare for a child to be snatched or abused by a sick stranger. Yet this week alone we heard about Timothy Cox, jailed indefinitely for running an unspeakably horrific global network for perverts, featuring "live" pictures of children being abused.

We've heard of a reported abduction in Redditch after witnesses told of seeing a gagged child being bundled into the boot of a car. And we hear daily of the McCann family's continuing agony.

The Children's Society says youngsters are being damaged by over-protective parents who fear their child might be abducted. When I was growing up, my mum warned me: "Don't speak to strangers." I never asked her why.

Now my sons ask regularly because they hear it on the radio or TV. They know about Madeleine McCann and still enquire whether she's been found.

If only I could say: "Don't worry - bad men who take children are locked away for life."

The trouble is they're not. They're on a website near you now. I could chat to one right now if I wanted. That feels too close for comfort. And as long as it remains that way, I want my children close. For comfort.